Sticker Must Stick Or Dealer Can Pay

February 16, 1989|By Jim McNair, Fort Lauderdale News & Sun-Sentinel

It's a case of delayed sticker shock.

People arrive at a car lot looking for a 1989 sedan advertised for $16,995. When they're shown the car, they notice the price in the ad did not include $550 for the stereo, $599 for alloy wheels and $995 for air conditioning.

Only months later - if ever - do they learn that what they encountered was a violation of the Florida Fair Trade Practices Act, and that the dealer could have been fined $5,000 for its misleading ad.

''Basically, if you advertise a price of a car for sale or lease, that price must be all-inclusive,'' said Bill Howell, chief of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Practices Division of the Florida attorney general's office.

Howell's office in Miami receives a steady flow of complaints about deceptive motor vehicle advertising. Most involve prices for vehicles that no longer exist. That is, the advertised price excludes options that have become permanent fixtures on the vehicle.

Most of Howell's cases evolve from consumer complaints. If his office determines that the Fair Trade Practices Act has been violated, it can file a civil complaint.

Most often, however, the dealer agrees to pay a cash settlement of as much as $5,000 for each day the deceptive ad ran and for each consumer who responds to the ad.

California legislators have taken the side of consumers in many aspects of auto advertising. Like Florida, California requires that advertised new-car prices include all options, but it also requires the listing of serial numbers when specific vehicles are advertised.

Moreover, since Jan. 1, dealers are forbidden from enticing customers with free or discounted gifts, and dealer rebates will become outlawed.

Although new car dealers in Florida occasionally deceive consumers in ads, they do not often commit overt criminal acts. Dealerships are required by law to maintain adequate records of sales and to properly transfer titles. Only once during the past five years has a dealer's license been revoked for flagrant impropriety.

''It's very unusual for us to revoke a license. It's pretty much a last step,'' said Donna Thursby, chief of the Department of Motor Vehicles' Bureau of Licenses and Enforcement. ''Our goal is not to revoke the license.

''We can fine them or suspend their license for a certain period of time, but if the public is being injured, and we can't get the dealer's attention any other way, we'll revoke the license.''

One Broward County car dealership came close to losing its license in 1987 after Department of Motor Vehicle investigators found that the franchise owner had been falsifying lien records to obtain more money from lenders, said district administrator Robert Overton.

Before the dealer's license was revoked, however, the dealership was sold to another company.